Ethics for Industrial Technology Majors: Need and Plan of Action

The recent introduction of sessions dedicated to “Industrial Technology” in the annual ASEE conference is testimony that this discipline has gained its rightful place in the company of engineering and engineering technology. This new level of partnership and collaboration between engineering and technology programs promises to be a step in the right direction for society at large. Engineering and technology majors both supplement and complement each other’s knowledge and skills and it is crucial for educators to build bridges of active interaction. This paper takes aim at one specific as well as basic need in teamwork and interdisciplinary projects – ethics and its implications for professional practice. The primary focus here is to promote ethics education among a wider audience that includes industrial technologists. A preliminary study suggests that students majoring in industrial technology degree programs may not have adequate opportunity to formally study and engage in ethical aspects of technology vis-avis the practices of the profession. The core curriculum in industrial technology is typically comprised of technical and business courses with significant variation among individual programs. It is reasonable to assume that the ethical issues or dilemmas faced by an industrial technologist would parallel those that of engineers and managers. The authors, both coming with engineering as well as business backgrounds, coupled with significant experience in teaching industrial technology majors, identify a domain of knowledge that would constitute a necessary background in ethics for industrial technologists. Further, this paper also examines various resources for teaching and makes recommendations from a pedagogical point of view.

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